A really simple, different and delicious app is seedless grapes, covered with soft goat cheese then rolled in pistachio pieces.

This sounds delicious for an appetizer. Would you please expound on this a bit? Where do I get goat cheese? What kind? Is it spreadable like cream cheese? What type of grapes work best?

Sure! Personally I think the red seedless grapes taste best for this, but it's subjective! I've had it with green grapes as well and it's been very good, too. The goat cheese is soft, like a cream cheese. It seems to be common enough-I never have trouble finding it in any grocery stores. I take a grape, cover it with goat cheese (after doing a couple you'll get a feel for it) then roll them in the broken pistachio pieces, so they are thoroughly coated. Chill for a while and - voila! - simple as that, but absolutely delicious!

The hard part is not eating all of the pistachios when you are shelling them...yummy!

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What have you got? Is it food? Is it for me? I want it whatever it is!

Thanks, SamiHami, I think I will do this for an appetizer. Sounds easy and yummy.

I'm getting my shopping list together and thinking that once I chop all the meat and marinade everything (chicken & steak) on Wednesday it will be easy enough to brown & serve on Friday.

Posters have mentioned grilling the meat. If I do a hot stir & fry the day of, will that work? I'm concerned about the meat drying out if I cook it on Wednesday and warm it on Friday.

I'm wondering about the black beans. I found a few recipes, but am thinking about doing this in the crock-pot, setting it up the night before. I've done this with my red beans, do black beans cook the same way?

All in all, I'm pretty excited about preparing a wonderful/different meal for my guests.

Thanks, SamiHami, I think I will do this for an appetizer. Sounds easy and yummy.

I'm getting my shopping list together and thinking that once I chop all the meat and marinade everything (chicken & steak) on Wednesday it will be easy enough to brown & serve on Friday.

Posters have mentioned grilling the meat. If I do a hot stir & fry the day of, will that work? I'm concerned about the meat drying out if I cook it on Wednesday and warm it on Friday.

I'm wondering about the black beans. I found a few recipes, but am thinking about doing this in the crock-pot, setting it up the night before. I've done this with my red beans, do black beans cook the same way?

All in all, I'm pretty excited about preparing a wonderful/different meal for my guests.

Keeping my fingers crossed! and Thank you for your help!;D

i would switch it up with the meat since it will dry out with reheating. I would instead do a chicken in a crockpot with a can of diced tomatoes with chilis or jar of salsa (mild or hot etc) and a taco seasoning packet. That way you can keep it moist and it will be very tasty. If you still want to do a steak, how about an authentic shredded steak? You marinate a flank or london broil or brisket with lime, garlic, chili powder for a day. Then braise it till falling apart tender, and shred. Store. Then on day of, you crisp it up in a bit of olive oil and finish it off with lime. Serve with the onions and peppers.

As for the black beans, crockpot or sauce pan on low is fine as well for reheating.

I just wanted to report that my taco bar was a huge success! Thank you everybody for your suggestions.

Hmmmmm -- I followed your recipe for the chicken. It was divine and I will do this again. Thank you!

SamiHami -- the grapes coated with goat cheese and pistachio was a huge hit. A nice refreshing appetizer to cool the palate with the spicy salsa/guac, etc.

Amara -- Thanks for the suggestion of black olives. Several guests commented "Wow! There's olives! So yummy, I love olives."

Zilla -- You mentioned grilling the steaks for a char, so I cubed small pieces, marinated them and then put the pieces under the broiler for a couple of minutes. The broiler grill/char was a very nice touch. Thanks!

The mishap that I had was with the beans. Apparently I need a new crock-pot. Sigh. I soaked the beans over night, put them in the crock-pot on high at 6 a.m. Seven hours later, they were still crunchy! So I tried to salvage them by putting a bunch into a large sauce pan with extra broth to boil for a bit.

try this: fill the pot about halfway with water, add a teaspoon of laundry powder, bring to a boil (CAREFUL! this tends to boil over), then turn off and let it sit. the burnt stuff should scrub right off.

I'ver also been successful with sprinkling baking soda over the burnt and letting it sit over night.